I started college in 2022 and am expected to graduate in December of 2025, which officially makes me, according to my little brother, “unc.” Reaching senior status strikes you with a mix of excitement and anxiety, and for good reason! For four years, you’ve gotten so comfy and familiar with these buildings, people and the freedom of college life. But what’s next?
I’ve never been the best with change, and becoming a senior just reminds me that a whole lot of change is coming my way. While grappling with this truth, I’ve been reflecting on the past four years. Recounting all the laughs, drama, cringiness, wins, losses and unexpected turns, I’ve come to the conclusion that, while there are a million things I fantasize about doing differently, if some genie came up to me with a magic bottle to change anything, I wouldn’t press it.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend like my college experience was something straight out of the movies. The reality is, despite making some of the best memories, I spent a large part of it anxiety-ridden, under academic pressure and unsure of what kind of person I was or what kind of person I wanted to be. Boring and kind of depressing, I know, but that’s the truth!
We tend to glamorize this period of life a whole lot, which I think is totally fitting. We’re young, energetic and have so much ahead of us! But with romanticization comes idealization. We create definitions of what a “good” college experience is, and if our own experiences don’t match up, it’s very easy to feel like you did college “wrong.”
It’s okay if your college experience wasn’t or hasn’t been picturesque. The reality is that college, in retrospect, is just a blip of time in our lives. The opportunity for new experiences doesn’t end when college does. If anything, besides getting a degree, I truly think the main purpose of college is for that juicy character arc, aka learning who you really are. It’s something that sticks with you well past graduation and helps you continue finding new experiences and feeling the euphoria that comes with every adventure!
Regardless of whether or not your time here looks like color graded b-roll or more like a blooper reel, I have a feeling we’ll all reach a point in our lives where we’d do anything just to rewatch it, so make sure to enjoy every second.